Paint applicator



April 16, 1957 P. v. SANTINA 2,788,539

PAINT APPLICATOR Filed Feb. 10, 1955 INVENT/OR. PETER L SAWT/NA ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,788,539 PAlNT ArrLIcA'roR Peter V. Sautina, San Francisco, Calif. Application February 10, 1955, Serial N0. 487,283 3 Claims. or. -230 This invention relates to paint applicators and has particular reference to a device for the application of paint to objects having a substantially cylindrical surface.

As is well known, the application of paint to a cylindrical object of relatively small diameter, such as pipe, is difiicult when done with the ordinary paint brush, particularly, if the pipe is in place and is incapable of being rotated or is disposed so that it is difiicult to readily reach around its entire surface. Under such circumstances, the painter never knows whether he has completely covered the surface of the pipe or other cylindrical object with paint, and painting such an object is a tedious and time-consuming task.

Even when a pipe or other cylindrical object is not in place and can be rotated, the painting thereof by use of an ordinary fiat paint brush is a slow time-consuming job.

One of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide a paint applicatorby which paint can be applied to a cylindrical surface rapidly and with a minimum of effort.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a paint applicator that comprises a pair of arms joined scissor-fashion, one end of the arms serving as handles, and journaled to the other end of said arms are a plurality of paint applicator rollers relatively mounted so as to be capable of encircling a round or cylindrical object to be painted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint applicator of the character referred to which, when reciprocated in the axial direction of a cylindrical object, acts to quickly and easily apply paint to the complete cylindrical surface. i

A preferred form of my invention is described in the following detailed specification and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying my invention, showing the positioning of the paint applicator rollers and the scissor arms on which they are mounted.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device illustrating the scissor-like arms and the paint applicator rollers.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the paint applicator disclosing the manner in which the paint applicator rollers embrace and apply paint to cylindrical objects of different diameters.

Referring to the drawings, the paint applicator includes two arms 10 and 11 pivoted together intermediate their ends scissor-fashion by a pin 12, one set of ends of the arms 10 and 11 serving as handles 13 and 14.

At the ends of the arms 10 and 11 opposite the handles 13 and 14 each arm is bent at right angles to form spindle mountings 16 and 17 for paint applicator rollers as will be described. The spindles 16 and 17 are disposed relatively at 90 apart. The spindle 16 is disposed at a slightly greater distance from the pivot point or pin 12 than the spindle 17 for reasons hereinafter explained. The outer end of the spindle 16 is fitted with a fixed trunnion 16a, which projects at right angles to the spindle 16 and, substantially parallel to the spindle 17. Similarly, a trunnion 17a is fixed to the spindle 17 and projects at right angles thereto and substantially parallel to the spindle 16. Iournaled on each of the spindles 16 and 17 and trunnions 16a and 17a are paint applicator rollers 18, 18a, 19 and 19a. The outer peripheral face or surface of each of said paint applicator rollers is composed of a relatively deep layer of fine, closely packed fibres 25, said fibres having a high degree of resiliency.

Due to the location of the spindles 16 and 17 and the trunnions 16a and 17a, the four paint applicator rollers are disposed in a substantially common plane parallel to the pivotal axis of the arms and normal to the plane in which the arms oscillate and are disposed approximately apart.

Thus the paint applicator rollers 18, 13a, 19 and 19a, when the scissor arms 10 and 11 are closed, form a square enclosure so that the roller surfaces will encircle a cylindrical object to apply paint to substantially all or a large surface area thereof, as indicated in Fig. 4.

Formed on the inner end of the spindles 16 and 17 are shoulders 34 and 35, said shoulders holding springs 36 and 37, respectively, in place on the said spindles and press against the paint applicator rollers 18 and 19, so that they bias said paint applicator rollers toward the paint applicator rollers 18a and 19a, respectively. The trunnions 16a and 17a are also adjustable longitudinally with respect to the spindles 16 and 17. Thus the four paint applicator rollers 18, 18a, 19 and 19a can be maintained in substantially edge to edge contact as shown in the drawings. As before stated, the scissor arm 10 projects a lesser distance beyond the pivot point or pin 12 than the scissor arm 11. This is so the said scissor arms can be closed scissor-fashion to dispose the repective pairs of paint applicator rollers 18, 18a, 19 and 19a in slightly offset relation, which enables them to close more closely and to prevent said paint applicator rollers from binding when in use.

If the cylindrical object to be painted has a diameter approximately the width of the paint applicator rollers, a very high percentage of the surface is covered by said paint applicator rollers, as shown in Fig. 4. If the diameter of the cylindrical object to be painted is greater than the width of the paint applicator rollers, then a lesser percentage of the surface is covered as shown in dotted lines in said Fig. 4.

The operator, in usingthe device, first dips the paint applicator rollers in paint, then opens the scissor arms 19 and 11 so that the cylindrical object to be painted may be fitted within the paint applicator rollers. The scissor arms 1d and 11 are then closed so that the paint applicator rollers are in contact with the surface to be painted. The operator then moves the paint applicator rollers back and forth axially of the object being painted, causing the paint to be applied to the surface of said cylindrical object. By then moving the device circumferentially of the object being painted, as well as axially thereof, the entire surface can be easily and quickly painted.

The device can also be used to paint square objects having approximately the same or smaller dimensions than the width of the rollers.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, it is obvious that various changes may be made therein by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A paint applicator comprising a pair of arms pivoted intermediate their ends scissor-fashion, one pair of adjacent ends of said arms serving as handles, a paint applicator roller mounted at the other end of each arm with its axis of rotation disposed at approximately 90 to said arm, the axes of the rollers being disposed approximately 90 apart.

2. A paint applicator comprising a pair of arms pivoted intermediate their ends scissor-fashion, adjacent ends of each arm serving as a handle, a pair of rotatable paint applicator rollers secured to the other end of each arm, the paint applicator rollers of each pair being disposed substantially at right angles to each other and at substantially right angles to the arm on which they are mounted.

3. A paint applicator comprising a pair of arms pivoted intermediate their ends scissor-fashion, one end of each arm serving as a handle, the other end of each arm being bent at an angle of approximately 90 to form a spindle, a paint applicator roller journaled on each spindle, a trunnion fixed to the free end of each spindle and extending at approximately 90 thereto, and a paint applicator roller journaled on each trunnion, the two pairs of paint applicator rollers being opposed so that the said paint applicator rollers are disposed substantially in a common plane at approximately 90 apart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,718,151 Jemmison June 18, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS, 4

80,213 Norway May 12, 1952 847,645 Germany Aug. 25, 1952 

